Giving
Notice of Your Intended Marriage when You Live
at Opposite Ends of the Country (or the Earth)

I've
heard a few horrendous stories about couples
spending thousands of dollars on (unnecessary)
travel to lodge their Notice of Intended Marriage
together in Australia because they haven't been
given the correct advice.

How to have the Notice signed by both
parties is also a question that is often asked
when I'm talking to someone here in Australia who
is in the process of applying for a Prospective
Marriage Visa to bring their partner to Australia
so they can be married.

So let me reassure you, you do not have to
front up in person to lodge your Notice of
Intended Marriage. And you also do not need to
be together.

Here are the facts.

You must complete a Notice of Intended
Marriage, sign it in front of a qualified
witness - they are listed on page 4 of the Notice
of Intended Marriage form - and
lodge it with your chosen celebrant at least a
month before your wedding date. No Notice. No
Wedding!

You can sign your Notice whereever in the
world you are. The only thing that differs is
that the qualified witnesses overseas are not
the same as the qualified witnesses in
Australia

You do not have to both sign on the same day
or in front of the same witness

While it is usual to have both of you sign
it before it is lodged, where you are not both
in the same geographical area, the Notice can
be lodged with only one signature. So, if one
of you is in Australia and the other one is
overseas, the person in Australia can lodge
the Notice with only their signature on it.

''... if the signature of a party
to an intended marriage cannot conveniently
be obtained at the time when it is desired
to give notice under this section, a notice
duly signed by the other party and otherwise
complying with the provisions of this
section shall, if it is signed by the first
mentioned party in the presence of an
authorised celebrant before the marriage is
solemnised, be deemed to have been a
sufficient notice.''
Marriage Act, 1961, Section 42(3)

The signed Notice can be given to your
celebrant in person, sent by mail, or
scanned (as a PDF) and emailed.

The clock starts ticking on the month's
notice when your celebrant gets it Pro-tip:
If you are cutting it fine, make sure you
check any time differences between where
you are and where your celebrant is. And
don't forget that in Queensland we don't
do Daylight Saving Time in summer!